Some of us remember when “Made in America” wasn’t considered a warning label. Or a bad Whoopi Goldberg/Ted Danson comedy.
Erin and I were at Baby Depot for four solid hours. I kid you not. We found a crib we liked (C&T’s Silver model in a pecan finish), and we registered for some other baby stuff. Prior to this we visited and registered at Toys R Us, a process thankfully made shorter because Erin, Liz, and my mom had visited and done some registration work last week. The kid is gonna have some nifty stuff.
The crib selection process was lengthy mainly because we were uneducated and acquired a lot of our knowledge in the store kicking the tires as it were. We looked a variety of models from different manufacturers. In our opinion, the American-made cribs were inferior in quality of workmanship, materials and design. Although some of the higher end American-made brands were OK on the workmanship and materials fronts (meaning we found their construction to be sturdy), I don’t think I would recommend them. I would definitely stay away from the low-end American stuff. Not that they’re dangerous necessarily. I just don’t think they’ll hold up very well over time given their construction and materials. (Delta seemed to me to be a big offender in this respect.)
Where the American brands really got hammered, though, was design. (Apple Computer needs to come out with a baby crib.) C&T has a drawer underneath their cribs (which none of the American brands had). This should prove to be highly convenient storage. C&T uses wing nuts to adjust the height of the crib so you don’t need any tools to change the bed around as your kid grows. The American brands make you use a screw driver or a wrench. C&T has recessed rail hardware which presents a cleaner design aesthetic as opposed to the American brands which simply slap the ugly hardware on the wood for all to see. (This “hidden hardware” technique is present in European cabinetry design as well.) It may prove safer for baby to have inset hardware on the crib, but I think it’s a marginal consideration. Add it all up, though, and we think the American-made cribs are left in the dust by any of the C&T cribs. If I remember I will do an MTV style Baby Davison’s crib video for ya all once we have everything at home and set up. Somebody remind me.
Speaking of Baby Davison, the kid is 37 weeks now. All the squirming has moved Erin’s belly button off center, which is pretty funny if you ask me. (Erin thinks so too, and she’s the final arbiter of what baby-related events are or aren’t funny. You don’t see me lined up to give birth, so “funny” ain’t my call.) Erin’s now up 4 to 5 times per night, mostly thanks to baby’s pressure on the bladder. For the most part she’s been able to get right back to sleep, a fantastic talent to have and one which I hope I acquire soon because there’s no question that the kid will be waking me up too.